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project: little-house-inspired hand warmer

This week I'm happy to be sharing a few projects and posts inspired by my recent rediscovery of Little House on the Prairie. I've been reading the books, and watching the television show, and getting others in the family to join my addition.

Back in the days of Laura Ingalls, traveling in the winter meant loading heated stones into the wagon to keep feel warm. Thankfully that's no longer needed, but keeping hands warm, even with car heaters, can be a challenge. These simple hand warmers are easy to make, and they really do keep your hands toasty warm!

You will need:Wool felt
Embroidery floss
Rice

For each hand warmer, cut a piece of felt measuring 4 x 5.75 inches. Embroider a design in the middle. I chose a cross-stitched heart because it felt reminiscent of something one of the Ingalls girls might have stitched (I found a pattern with a quick Google search), but any small-ish design will do.

To embroider on felt, I usually trace the pattern onto tracing paper, then stitch through it all and tear the paper away. However, it was a huge pain with these x-stitches, so be warned if you want to try this method!

Fold the top and bottom around to form a tube, with an overlap of about .5 inches. Pin and sew across with the smallest stitches you can make.

Sew one end of the tube closed. It's easier to make these stitches a bit smaller.

Add 1/4 cup of rice.

Sew the other end closed.

Your hand warmer is finished, but you'll probably want to make two...one for each pocket! To warm these, just place in the microwave and heat for increments of 10 seconds until you reach the desired heat. Mine took 30 seconds. They'll stay warm for at least 20 minutes, maybe even a little longer!

These are very cute. I've made a less cute version of these because we live in the chilly UK, but yours look much, much sweeter! We love the "Little House" series. I skipped them in favor of Nancy Drew as a child but read nearly all the the Little House books with my daughter last year - we couldn't put them down!

This is so fun! I will definitely be making some of these for my pockets. I have recently broke out my Little House books again and have been re-reading them...I feel like they had such wonderful ideas and traditions! I am learning things I never would have caught when I was a kid.

Warm them in the oven. Maybe 300 - 350. Start for 10 minutes.. check on it. If its not warm enough put them back in for a few mins. Don't use a synthetic fabric or it may melt with heat. 100% cotton, wool, or linen or any blend of these. Dryer doesn't sound like a great idea. Lots of agitation it could rip open your pillow. (Little house people didnt have electricity they probably used their wood stove to heat these type of things)

Such a cute idea and very useful too! I love Little House on the Prairie books , read them all as a child and really should reread them as they are my all time favorite books. I did give my granddaughter one of the books for Christmas . Thanks for the pattern.

This is such a cute idea! Just an FYI for cross stitching - there is a throw away fabric just for this, instead of using tissue paper. You attach it to whatever fabric you're stitching on that is not the usual cross stitch fabric, stitch your design over it and then remove the fabric first horizontally and then vertically (kind of like un-weaving a basket) and voila! You have your beautiful cross stitch design. I can't remember the name of the brand, probably more than one, but they have it at both Michael's and Joann's in the cross stitch section. It's blue and white. Happy Crafting!

I got to using tracing paper with my embroidery because it's pretty easy to use, and I have plenty left over from my art classes in college. Cross-stitches were just a different animal with it! I've never tried waste cloth, but I keep meaning to. I'll pick some up next time I'm at JoAnn's! Thank you!

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